And phone manufacturers probably don't see it as a big value-add, so they don't bother to develop or include a compatible app.
With a real tuner, I can pick up anything that's in range - and enjoy compression-free audio to boot.Īs for why phones have FM tuners at all, my guess is that Google's Android hardware specs include the feature, even if the OS itself doesn't offer any way to access it. (Or, at least, not much - see below.) Streaming also requires considerably more power than a tuner, meaning your battery will die more quickly.Īdditionally, I've found that apps like TuneIn and iHeartRadio don't always have all my local stations. The latter is easy: Streaming consumes data while a tuner does not. FM WTF?īefore we dive into the specifics, let me answer your inevitable questions: Why would phone manufacturers include an FM tuner and not tell users about it, and why bother with an FM tuner when countless apps can stream FM stations from all over the world? And you don't need to do any jailbreaking or violate any terms of service to use it.
The 3.5mm headphone jack remains crucial for FM radio use on smartphones, and we'll be following to see if these brands keep the port in future products.NextRadio can activate your phone's previously unused FM receiver.īelieve it or not, your model might have a built-in FM radio receiver. With this news, Samsung joins other companies such as LG, Motorola, and Alcatel.
Samsung, for instance, has partnered up with app NextRadio, pledging to ship its next phones with a working FM radio feature. Thanks to a request by the US-American Federal Communications Commission (FCC), some brands have decided to be more transparent regarding their products' FM radio capabilities. So why would consumer electronics manufacturers disregard public safety, delivering dormant FM radio capabilities or, as is the case for Apple, discarding FM chips altogether? The reason may be the profits from data consumption and ever-so-popular streaming services (Apple Music being one of them).
Most importantly, FM radio broadcasts are immeasurably more reliable and far-reaching than mobile internet in crises, and emergency broadcasts are proven to save lives. Fortunately, there are apps out there that can both detect if your gadget has an FM chip, as well as activate and operate it.įM radio stations may not be able to provide listeners with the glory of picking what they want to hear, but such lack of control is precisely what a nostalgic portion of consumers miss.
The odd thing is that many of our phones do have this feature, though it remains disabled within the device, with no software to manage it. As years went by, however, many users were left disappointed and nostalgic, as FM radio vanished from newer models.īesides a built-in antenna or plugged-in headphone jack, an FM chip is required for FM radio to work on a smartphone. W Weather-sealed (splashproof) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) connectivity Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) connectivity Wide aperture (main camera) Wireless chargingįM receivers, which allow us to listen to FM radio, were among the first special features during the transition between the first cellphones and smartphones. U Ultra power-saving mode Upload speed USB Type-C USB version T Texture rate Thermal Design Power (TDP) Timelapse video S Screen size Semiconductor size Sensor size Shading units Silent alarm Sleep tracking Slow-motion video recording Sound pressure level Stereo speakers Subwoofer R Radio RAM RAM speed RAW image format support Ray tracing Refresh rate Removable battery Resolution P Phase-detection autofocus (PDAF) for photos Physical QWERTY keyboard Pixel density Pixel rate Pixel size (main camera)
M Manual exposure Manual focus Manual ISO Manual white balance Maximum light sensitivity Megapixels (main camera) Memory bandwidth I Impedance Internal storage IPS screen Iris scanner H HDR mode Heart rate monitor Highest frequency G Geekbench result GPS GPU clock speed Gyroscope
0-9 3.5mm audio jack 360° panorama mode 3D facial recognition 5G supportĪ Accelerometer Active noise cancellation (ANC) AF tracking AirPlay ANT+ī Barometer Battery life (CIPA) Battery power Bluetooth version Body SAR (US) Brightness BSI sensor Built-in optical image stabilization Burst modeĬ CMOS sensor Compass Continuous autofocus for movies Contrast ratio CPU speed CPU threadsĭ Damage-resistant glass DLNA certification Download speed Dual-lens (or multi-lens) main camera Dual-SIM Dual-tone LED flash Dust- and water-resistance DxOMark Mobile scoreį Fast charging Fingerprint scanner Floating-point performance